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God is Good

Last Saturday night, we got cheese pizzas from Sprouts for dinner. We popped one straight into the oven, but the other, we dressed with broccoli, red bell peppers, and spam.

The following morning, we saw ants swarming around some leftover bits of spam on the counter. We have not had a stream of ants in the kitchen for some time, maybe years. While some would consider this a problem, I counted it as a blessing. God is good.

For one thing, ants keep termites away. Once, there was a termite-ridden log in the yard. I dragged it over to the ant hill, and by the next day, all the termites were gone, even under the bark. Ants or termites? Choose one.

But more importantly, the ants provided an opportunity for Merrianne and myself to work together. We cleaned up the kitchen, getting all the surfaces wiped down, and removing every bit of food. I just love working together toward a common goal. The ants have not returned.

A busy signal is good.

In early 2005, we still had dial-up internet on our land line, and no cell phones. The result was that our phone line was often tied up at night, when the kids were downloading songs from iTunes. Such was the case when my father-in-law tried to call my wife, Merrianne. Busy. So he called her sister Janet, instead.

Now Janet lived in another city, so did not get to visit with her father much. She had a nice chat with him on the phone, and promised to relay the message. Later that evening, Janet called Merrianne and relayed that Dad asked that she check in on him the next morning. Merrianne called her father back to ask if he was all right, and he said yes, but please check in on him the next day.

The following day, I drove over with Merrianne to his house. There was no answer at the door. Merrianne used her key, and we found him restfully reclined in a chair. He had passed away.

Were it not for that busy signal, Janet would not have gotten to talk with her father for one last time.